"Estancia Mininova" is a tongue-in-cheek nickname for a garden, sitting on a quarter-acre land in the southern suburbs of Portland, Oregon. This was an inspiration for Estancia Serenova, and we have come full circle. This was where the dreams of Estancia Serenova all started, and where it ended. 

Free local gardening resources for you

Build community resiliency and hyper-local food security.

Make use of resources available to our community.

1. Seed libraries

Today, many local public libraries provide a seed library service, where you can "check out" flower and vegetable seeds. While you're requested to donate back some of the seeds from your harvest, it is not a requirement. Many of the seeds are "community donated" by the locals, while other seeds are often donated by retailers or nonprofit organizations.

Some of the local libraries with a seed library:

• Sherwood Public Library, 22560 SW Pine St. (near the Pine Street entrance)

• Tigard Public Library, 13500 SW Hall Blvd. (upstairs, behind the reference desk next to the self-checkout)

• Wilsonville Public Library, 8200 SW Wilsonville Rd. (at the Library of Things)

• McMinnville Public Library, 225 NW Adams St. (upstairs near the main stairwell)

• Ledding Library of Milwaukie, 10660 SE 21st Ave. (from the main entrance, walk all the way to the big windows facing the lake, then look to your right)

2. Oregon State University Extension Services' "Grow This! Oregon Gardening Challenge"

Oregon State University Extension Services has been offering an annual program called "Grow This! Oregon Gardening Challenge" to Oregon residents. Participants need to apply online in February, and seeds (you will not know what type of seeds you will receive, but they are all suited for where you live) are mailed to you in April. [Note: This program was funded in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutritional Services. The future funding of this program, therefore, is unclear at this time.]

Information: https://www.foodhero.org/growthis 

3. Clackamas County's "Adopt a Crop Community Project"

The Libraries in Clackamas County (LINCC) and Going to Seed have partnered to organize a county-wide "adopt-a-crop" program in which "crop parents" would grow a crop from local seeds. The more times these crops are grown and seeds are saved in the local community, the more adapted these plants become to the soil, climate, and pests of Clackamas County, contributing to greater food security. Crop parents pledge to save seeds from the plants and return them to the project for the next year.

For more information about how to participate, contact Kay Everts at the Clackamas County Oak Lodge Library or any LINCC member library. Participation is limited to Clackamas County residents.

4. Look for local seed swaps and plant swaps

Many local organizations, clubs, and sometimes public libraries or even parks and recreation departments organize seed or plant swaps, typically in the spring. Check for local event calendars, Facebook groups, bulletin boards, and others to see if there's one near you. 

5. Community gardens, if you do not have a suitable place at home

Usually, your local parks and recreation department manages several community gardens in your area. They usually have a long and competitive waiting list, however, and therefore it may be difficult to get a plot. Usually, there is an annual fee for the use of a plot, as well as specific volunteering requirements to help maintain the common area. If you live outside a city or a parks and recreation district, you may have to pay an additional "out-of-district" surcharge (typically 25 to 40 percent on top of the in-district fee) and only after the in-district application period has ended. Choose a location that is close to you and convenient enough for you to be there daily.

• Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District (Beaverton area): https://www.thprd.org/parks-and-trails/community-gardens

• Luscher Farms Community Gardens (in Stafford): https://lakeoswego.city/luscher/community-gardens 

• Tualatin United Methodist Church's Hilltop Community Garden: https://tualatinumc.org/community-garden 

• Portland Parks and Recreation: https://www.portland.gov/parks/community-gardens 

• City of Tigard Public Works: https://www.tigard-or.gov/your-government/departments/public-works/parks-recreation/community-gardens 

• Wilsonville Parks and Recreation: https://www.wilsonvilleoregon.gov/parksrec/page/community-garden 

6. Find a small space around you

You do not need a large backyard or lots of money to start gardening! Try some of these options:

• Grow herbs indoors: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/growing-herbs-indoors-adds-flavor-saves-money 

• Grow microgreens: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/microgreens-add-big-flavor-small-footprint 

• 16 vegetables you can grow in pots or containers: https://www.epicgardening.com/container-vegetables/ 

• Easy container vegetables for apartments or rooftop: https://balconygardenweb.com/easy-container-vegetables-container-vegetable-gardening/ 

Most seed libraries carry the seeds you need for these. Also, did you know that you can use your SNAP/Oregon Trail card to purchase "food-producing" vegetable seeds or starts (at participating stores)?

What to do with all the produce?

1. Find a recipe on Food Hero!

Food Hero is a resource created by Oregon State University Extension Services to help Oregonians maximize their food budget, reduce food waste, and build local resiliency. You can look up easy, quick, and inexpensive recipes by ingredients you may have on hand.

https://foodhero.org/ingredients (English)

https://foodhero.org/es/ingredients (Castellano)

2. Share with your neighbors!

Why don't you share some of your excess produce with your neighbors? It can be a great way to get to know your neighbors and build a community.

3. Potluck!

Does your community group or faith community have potlucks? 

4. Donate! 

While most food banks adhere to stringent rules on food safety and therefore do not accept produce donations from community members, some smaller and independent food pantries do, and so are the "free fridges" in neighborhoods. In addition, many churches and senior centers that provide meal services may welcome such donations. Call them first, however. 

Tigard Grange Hall's Community Food Project (as far as I know) does accept produce donations.

• PDX Free Fridges: https://sites.google.com/view/pdx-free-fridge

• Tigard Grange's Community Food Project: https://www.facebook.com/TigardGrangeCommunityFoodProject 

5. Preserve!

Some produce can be preserved by dehydrating, freezing, canning, drying, or pickling.

• Preserving summer squash: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/sp-50-447-preserving-summer-squash

• Harvesting and storing potatoes: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/best-practices-harvesting-storing-homegrown-potatoes 

• How to dehydrate vegetables using an oven: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2REw7Dra4hE

• How to make kimchi: https://youtu.be/Y-zDsvidfdk?t=132 (if the video plays from the start, fast forward to 2:12). 

• Easy refrigerator pickles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEyNFXJpH3U 

More local gardening resources

• Gardening with Food Hero: A lot of good resources and videos. https://foodhero.org/gardening 

• Oregon State University Extension Services: More free educational resources. https://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening

• Monthly Garden Calendars: What to do each month. Written specifically for Oregon. https://extension.oregonstate.edu/collection/monthly-garden-calendars      

• Gardening in autumn and winter: For harvest from November to April. https://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pub/pnw-548-winter-vegetable-production-small-farms-gardens-west-cascades 

• Regional H2O: Do you really know how much to water? Most people don't! More water does not mean it's better, and water waste is bad both for your wallet and the environment. Get your "Weekly Water Number" here, customized specifically for where you are and formulated by scientists. https://www.regionalh2o.org/ (Available only for the Greater Portland Metro area.)  

• Watering efficiently outdoors: https://www.regionalh2o.org/water-conservation/outdoor-water-conservation/watering-efficiently-outdoors 

• Ask Extension: Use this form to ask the experts at the Oregon State University Extension Services a gardening question: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/ask-extension (Oregon residents only).

• Ask an Oregon librarian: Use Answerland for reference questions or book recommendations: https://answerland.org/ 

What's that thing?

The Stratus Rain Gauge is a scientifically accurate tool to measure rainfall, and is a smaller replica of the gauge used by the National Weather Service. We collect daily precipitation data for use by meteorologists, climatologists, hydrologists, and even insurance companies, as part of the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRAHS), in partnership with the University of Colorado and the National Weather Service. 

To view the map of precipitations: https://maps.cocorahs.org/ (Click on a station to view a detailed data dashboard with some nice visualization and statistics!) 

This data also informs how much watering to be done on a given day. (For example, if a given week's Weekly Water Number is 1.2 and the previous day's rainfall was 0.17 or higher, there's no need to water that day.)